Card Factory plc, £181m share placing, UK
2015
STJ Advisors acted as independent advisor to Charterhouse on its third and final successful sell-down in Card Factory plc, UK’s London-listed and leading specialist retailer of greeting cards, raising c. £181m. The sale, representing Charterhouse’s remaining shareholding in Card Factory and c. 18% of the Company, was completed as a combination of a private placement to two Tier 1 UK long-only institutions followed by an accelerated bookbuild to a small group of UK institutions, both at 300p, or a c. 3% premium to previous close. This completes a successful range of follow-on transactions (many completed as private placements) enabling Charterhouse to sell-down all of its shareholding in Card Factory within 10 months of the IPO. All transactions were completed at premium prices to the market and without lock-up commitments. This ensured maximum flexibility and allowed Charterhouse to capture the full fundamental value of the shares. STJ had successfully advised Charterhouse on its £297m IPO of Card Factory in May 2014 as well as both its previous share disposals in December 2014 and January 2015.
